


Princess

by Genxha



Series: Post Season 3 finale [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/M, Fox Alya Césaire | Rena Rouge, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:48:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26846161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genxha/pseuds/Genxha
Summary: [Just after S3 finale]There's always hope, even when everything seems to be lost, maybe looking deeply in a pair of green eyes.Marinette, back home from Miracle Queen battle, is worried about her future.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Post Season 3 finale [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2173941
Comments: 5
Kudos: 33
Collections: Miraculous Ladybug





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Principessa](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/696769) by Genxha. 
  * Inspired by [Principessa](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/696976) by Genxha. 



> ENORMOUS "thank you" to:  
> Jess for pushing me to write this (in Italian).  
> Giulia for doing the same to translate in English and English version Beta.  
> Ashley for English version Beta and comments.  
> Last but not lerast to Anais for the live comments on translated version.  
> And I almost forgot Maya Patch for the wonderful drawing of [spoiler] :D
> 
> If you like to support me: http://ko-fi.com/genxha
> 
> Miraculous: tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir - Zagtoon, Method Animation, Toei Animation, SAMG Animation, De Agostini Editore, Nelvana, Cartoon Network Studios 
> 
> All rights and trademarks belongs to their owners.

# Exhausted

"Tikki? "

The kwami comes out of her hiding place, Marinette's small purse, while the girl closes the hatch. The room, usually large and painted in shades of pink, suddenly seems dark and small.

"What's going on, Marinette?" Instead of answering she lets herself fall on the sofa, starting to stammer, "I ...Ti-Tikki I.. can’t... " the Kwami is visibly worried and flies closer to her, "I can't do it!" she finally says, bursting into tears. "Everything that happened, it was all my fault!" The girl looks at the sofa where she has hidden the Miracle Box. "Master Fu ... Adrien...". Marinette takes from her pocket the lucky charm that her friend had given her, "And then Luka! It's too much! I'm tired, Tikki! I can’t be Ladybug anymore!" she continues between sobs, covering her face with both hands.

"Oh, Marinette! Look at me, please." Tikki does her best but Marinette keeps crying between the hands, "It was Hawkmoth, it's not your fault, don’t say it!"

"Yes! It was my fault!" Now Marinette is almost shouting, "It all happened because of my indecision! And because I had too many things on my mind!" She fell on the sofa, "and it will only get worse, Tikki!" she sobs, hiding her face in the pillows.

A rose window opens, showing the profile of a man in a purple suit: Hawkmoth. "What is this? Oh, I am familiar with ... Anguish? Abandonment? FEAR? And ... something else … No, I have never felt anything like it, it is a perfect opportunity! I can’t fail!”

Hawkmoth closes his hands, cupped around one of the white butterflies that were flying around. It becomes surrounded by a purplish light and changes color. "Fly to her, my little Akuma, and darken her heart!" he says, while the butterfly leaves the room through the rose window and flies out into the sky of Paris.

Marinette keeps thinking that if only she had been more careful, Hawkmoth would never have found Master Fu, guardian of the Miraculous and now the old Chinese man had erased his memory by passing her the role of Guardian. And destining her to lose the memories of the Miraculous ones in turn, when, in the future, she would give up the role of Guardian.

But the little girl might not have thought of this yet. Beyond that, too much had happened to her that day. Things that hurt. She had managed to pretend that everything was fine, she had enjoyed listening to Luka's song and being with the others, until she returned to her room, the room covered with photos of Adrien.

Still crying, always hidden in the cushions, she vented to Tikki, "I’m the worst Ladybug ever! All my friends are in danger now, and it's all my fault! And I can not ask anyone for help, because... you know why. The secret."

"Marinette, I'm so sorry about Master Fu, but he is still with us. He met his beloved, and they will stay together and ..." the little Kwami was trying to comfort her holder and friend by flying close to her face and trying to hug her, even though her size would not allow it. A purple butterfly entered through the trap door from the mezzanine, and went up to the terrace.

Tikki saw it coming in and shouted, "MARINETTE! An Akuma!" to warn her friend, who raises her head from the pillows and opens her eyes wide, already swollen with tears, at the sight of the butterfly. 

Marinette stands up and tries to get away from the magic butterfly, which is about to reach her. 

"No! Help!" She shouts.

"Don't panic! Hold on!" cries Tikki, but poor Marinette can not look away from the akuma that’s getting closer to his face, - The Miraculous! - can barely think as terror and desperation begin to take over everything else "Tikki! Run away, before ..." she tries to say, before the Akuma touches one of her earrings and everything around her becomes dark. In front her, Marinette sees the face of Hawkmoth, surrounded by the purple silhouette of a butterfly.

"Hi, I'm Hawkmoth."

Tikki witnesses the whole thing and remains petrified looking at the girl's face contracting into a grimace, a reddish shadow surrounding her blue eyes - _I have to ask for help! I have to find Plagg!_ \- she thinks, flying towards the open hatch on the outside.

A voice in Marinette's head says, "Princess Solitude... everyone abandoned you? I’ll give you the power to make those who hurt you lose their beloved ones, so you can take revenge," while the darkness turns purple.

"No," speaking it costs an enormous effort to Marinette, "I don't ... I don't ... want... to cause more ... suffering. Go away, monster," are the only things she can say, but the voice in her head was mellifluous.

"Come on, don't you want to take revenge on the one who broke your heart? Really?"

"Go away ... I'm stronger ... than ... you," tried Marinette, shaking her head, but she can’t resist that voice, she had been through too much. 

"Oh, good, good, in return, you will give me the miraculous Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

But something still resisted, while Marinette, terrified, hears her own voice say, "Okay Hawkmoth. After I have my revenge, you will have them." 

Everything in her sight is enveloped in a violet light and a violet mist surrounds her body.

  
  


Tikki is flying across the rooftops of Paris, trying to figure out where to go to find Plagg and Chat Noir, she thinks - _Tikki, think ... Where is that cat today?_ \- Suddenly the sky, from the golden light of the sunset, turns gray and somewhere behind him, like a wave in a pond, a ring shaped cloud expanding rapidly throughout Paris - _no no no no no I have to go faster_ \- she thinks, as she finally sees her destination: Agreste’s Mansion.

Adrien is at his desk, in front of the computer, the background of the monitor with the image of his mother, smiling. But the boy is not looking at her, he has his cell phone in hands and he’s looking at an Instagram pic of Marinette and Kagami at an ice cream shop table.

Plagg flutters over the sofa, a piece of cheese between the paws. "So, Casanova, you made a move, didn’t you?" winks the Kwami to his blond bearer. 

"Do not be ridiculous, Plagg!" replies Adrien with a half smile "I like Kagam but …” 

"Yes, sure, you love Ladybug," Plagg ends the sentence for him.

"Oh, it's useless, Plagg ... you 'll never understand," the blond shakes his head, slightly bored. 

Plagg throws the piece of cheese in the air and swallows it on the fly, "This Camembert is a loooot better than girls!" he concludes, his mouth half full, coughing when the sunset suddenly turns gray. Adrien notices the change in light, and turns to the window while the cloud obscures the golden sky for a moment. When the boy looks again on the cell phone, ready to call someone, he sees that photo of his friends has changed: the girls have disappeared and the table is empty. 

"What?" but he has no time, noticing that his mother's face has disappeared from the photo in the same way. Adrien snaps, eyes wide open, "Plagg! What's happening?" looking at the little magical creature, blurting out, "Oh no! Plagg! " watching the Kwami slowly become transparent.

* * *

# Akuma

Tikki has finally reached Agreste Mansion, she is looking out of the large windows of Adrien's room, just as a flash of green light illuminates the room and a terrified Adrien is magically replaced by Chat Noir. With a leap, the masked hero reaches the window, a few meters from the Ladybug Kwami on the verge of panic, "Chat Noir! .... I need your help!"

The masked boy, taken by surprise, risks missing the edge of the opening. 

"Tikki! What are you doing here? They might see you!"

A leap and Chat Noir is beyond the manor’s wall, followed by the red Kwami. Hidden behind a chimney, Chat Noir raises his hand, palm up, where the little red creature immediately sits. "But where's Ladybug? What’s happening? It's Hawkmoth, isn't it?" He asks, stunned and still scared. Tikki flies up, taking off in the direction from which she had come. "There is no time, Chat Noir. It's .... it doesn’t matter where Ladybug is now. Come with me, I'll explain along the way." 

An uproar is breaking out in the streets: it seems that all Parisians are suddenly looking for someone who has disappeared. The news spreads quickly, thanks to the inevitable direct message from Nadia Chamak and it is now clear that this is Hawkmoth’s doing.

Alya is almost overwhelmed by some panicked passers-by as she exits the uncrowded Metro stairs near her house. She shakes her red curls leaning on the handrail and mutters.

The gray cloud has left no traces in the sky and Alya does not understand what caused that wave of panic, but the experience of the previous months told her that it must be an Akuma. She takes her cell phone and opens the phone book to call Marinette, "I knew it," mutters Alya listening to the Marinette's cheerful voice say, "It’s Marinette! I can't answer now, leave a message!"

"As usual, she has probably forgotten her cell phone somewhere." 

The redhead continues to walk, increasing her pace, picking up again the phone to call Nino to make sure he is okay, but after the fifteenth ring there is still no answer. "Uff, not even him! Still with those headphones ... I hope." she mutters in a low voice. 

Every time she puts the cell phone in the back pocket of her jeans, it vibrates: An akuma alert! In the images of the news, the house of her friend Marinette is shrouded in fog and the unmistakable black silhouette of Chat Noir who tries, with a series of somersaults, to avoid purple rays thrown by a gray figure. The aspiring journalist runs her hands through her tawny hair, adjusts her glasses and rushes towards Marinette's house, looking over the rooftops for the silhouette of Ladybug and totally forgetting to call Nino, as she starts running towards the Notre-Dame area.

  
  


Chat Noir and Tikki are now within sight of Notre-Dame, when Adrien stops suddenly, "Come on," he begins dryly, his green eyes fixed on Tikki as they land on a roof. "Explain: what are you doing here, where is Ladybug, why is she not there and what is happening?" raising a gloved finger at each question he asks. "No, she hasn't, given up, has she? No, she can't have done it without telling me anything." The hero puts his hand behind his neck and looks around bewildered, and Tikki looks at him, no less worried "Chat Noir, no ... she hasn't given up, calm down! " 

Chat Noir, still staring at her says, "Tikki, please" with too much emphasis on please, "tell me where ladybug is or I'll turn back here and now," he spells out, reaching out his left hand with the Black Cat ring and then stopping in midair. The little kwami is visibly nervous, "Chat, please trust me. She's," Tikki looks around, "she's all right but .. but now she can't transform, and ... listen, only you can save Paris, now! Ladybug will explain everything!" The little creature lowers his eyes.

Chat Noir's gaze becomes more and more serious, he removes the baton from his belt and opens it in telephone mode, closes it, then looks at Tikki.

"Ok, Ladybug is not there. But I can't catch the akuma."

Tikki looks just as serious, "I know, but you can free them and Ladybug will do the rest when ... when she can transform again. Please, Chat Noir," joins the little paws in front of his chest, as if praying to the hero in black "let's hurry up, we don't have time to talk."

"Okay," the blond nods, "Ladybug will have a lot of explaining to do." he tells her, but is thinking - _she says so not to scare me, but Ladybug must be in real danger and, worse, without powers, since Tikki is here. If something should happen to her …_ \- as he feels a dark weight drop in the center of his chest.

The two turn to the church, still scarred by the fire and see a strange gray cloud, similar to a small thunderstorm mound forming where Marinette's parents' pastry shop is located. Chat Noir squints to see better, "But isn’t this Marinette's house?" He stretches out the baton to jump over the square that separates them from the Seine and the girl's house.

When they reach it, the whole upper part of the building is now surrounded by a gray fog. - _Oh no! Not again!_ \- Thinks the blond, "Marinette!" Chat Noir shouts, rushing towards the building after giving Tikki a stink eye. For her part, the Kwami hides inside a mailbox, observing the scene from the letter slot.

While Chat Noir is approaching, he see’s Marinette’s parents leaving from the shop, walking wobbly. They are calling to each other and shouting the name of their daughter, but it is as if they did not see each other. Chat Noir approaches Tom, "Mr. Dupain! Are you Ok? Where's Marinette?"

The man looks at him "Chat Noir! Marinette is ... she was in her room! I have to go!" Chat Noir stands in front of him, trying to stop him, "Have you seen my wife? I have to go ..." but the sentence dies in his throat when he looks up on the second floor of the house he came from. 

"Your wife is here, behind you," says Chat Noir, making Tom turn towards the street. “Now is no time to joke!" the burly pastry chef scolds him, "There is no one!"

" But .. but ..." Chat Noir bites his lip, "All right. Mr. Dupain! Try to stay calm and go get safe. I'll take care of it. It's an Akuma, so let me handle it. I will save your daughter!"

At the last words, the black-clad hero has already rushed towards Marinette's mother, who is looking around with her hands clasped on her chest, calling for Tom and Marinette. He puts his arm on Sabine's shoulders and accompanies her across the street, "Don't worry, your husband is fine, it must be the effect of the Akuma if you can't see him. I swear to you, he is here, next to you. Mr. Dupain! Come over here, please. I'm going to save Marinette!"

Chat Noir turns and is about to leap, when a figure jumps from the cloud, landing with a somersault on one of the marble blocks of the river bank and causing the disorderly escape of those who had approached.

Marinette, of course, is no longer herself: pink jeans, shirt and jacket are now a gray tight suit, on her chest is the floral pattern that was on her shirt, in shades of gray. She wears high boots, darker than the suit.

Around her neck is a thin silver chain with a triangular-shaped pendant. On her back, she wears a semi-transparent cloak, which flutters in the wind. Her face is half covered by a mask without features, red eyes, expressionless, except for the vertical lines running down her cheeks from below the mask, like black tears.

Her formerly blue hair, now colorless, loosens over her shoulders. The only other note of color, apart from the eyes, are the bright purple luminescent ear studs. In one hand she holds the lucky charm she had when she was akumatized, also in an anonymous gray. Around her wrists, two silver bracelets, joined by a large chain of the same material almost reaching the ground, the rings slightly luminescent.

"Ah, there you are!" shouts the strange figure, pointing red eyes towards Chat Noir, "Give me your Miraculous and let's finish it, I made a promise! And I keep the promises, unlike you!”

The masked hero stands in front of the figure, his throat dry - _What happened to you?_ \- he thinks, shaking his head to focus on the opponent.

"M-Marinette?" Chat Noir asks, incredulous "What is happening to you? You know I can help you!" 

The boy didn't feel like making one of his usual puns, he knew he was facing his friend with pigtails and he had to save her. 

The girl shouts angrily, "Don't call me Marinette, stray cat, I'm Princess Solitude now!" She moves the gaze of the mask to the road, from which a small crowd runs away.

“I want everyone to be alone, so no one will suffer anymore because those who love them have abandoned them!!" The gray shape raises a gloved hand, throwing a violet beam towards Chat Noir, who dodges it by throwing himself to the right, rolling and standing up, in a guard position. In addition to the weight of anxiety on his chest, the hero started feeling an increasing anger towards Hawkmoth growing into his chest.

"Come on, I won’t hurt you! You can just forget all those who have made you suffer! It's nice! Come on, cat! Then I'll fix two other things and bring the Miraculous to Hawkmoth! "

  
  


Chat Noir had to buy time to understand where the akuma was, thinking  
\- _Maybe in the object she is holding, whatever it is. Or the pendant? The mask? The chains? Think, Adrien, think ... but where is Ladybug? She can figure out easily_. 

The masked hero moves to the center of the street, trying to get the girl dominated by Hawkmoth away from her parents. "What? No! I don't want to forget who is dear to me! Nobody wants it!" Chat Noir swallows hard, "What happened to you? Why are you doing this? I can hel-" 

"Shut up! I don't want your help! I don't want anyone's help! I just want …” she stops, “NO!" Princess Solitude cries, then puts her hands on her face, her voice trembles, "I don't want anyone! Anymore!" 

She shoots a series of purple rays towards Chat, who dodges them with a series of somersaults, ending up hiding behind a parked car, leaning far enough to see through the windows.

The gray figure looks around looking for his target, "don't hide k-kitten, don't do as everyone always does!" Marinette's voice is altered but trembles.

She shouts, "ALL OF YOU!", Princess of Solitude raises both arms in front of her, two purple rays depart from her hands and reach her petrified parents, while two rings of the chain that bound her wrists disappear. 

Tom and Sabine, lowering the arms with which they had covered their faces, they look around in disorientation, then the pastry chef says to Sabine, extending his hand, "Come, miss, let's take cover."

Sabine looks at him from below up, "Ah yes, sure, who are you?" joining the fleeing passers-by who take refuge in an alley nearby.

Chat Noir, from his makeshift hiding place, watches the scene by covering his mouth with one hand, biting his lip to avoid panic - _And why is Ladybug not here? What happened to her? She would know what to do …_ \- he shakes the blonde head - _concentrate, Adrien, concentrate, you can do it, and then Ladybug always comes, trust her .. as always!_ -

  
  


Near the Seine, Alya begins to meet people who had left the surroundings of Notre Dame. Moving with difficulty, in the opposite direction to the flood of people on the run, she finally arrives in sight of the well-known pastry shop. While she looks for Ladybug, she sees who she was trying to call: with his inevitable red cap: Nino, her boyfriend, as well as Adrien's best friend.

  
  


The masked hero flashes his green eyes down the street looking in vain for Tikki. He then focuses on his opponent, who is momentarily turning away from him. She is busy throwing more purple rays from her hands towards the few remaining fleeing passers-by, leaving them bewildered, but no chain ring disappears.

"Now," he says to himself and, with a fluid movement, levering with his silver baton, Chat Noir exits from behind the car and lands on the balustrade of the river bank, a few meters from Princess Solitude.

"Hey, Purrincess!" it seems so strange to him to call that gray being "It's me you want, right? Come on, let's play catch the cat's tail!" he challenges her, placing his left hand on his hip and twirling the tail of the costume with his right. From that distance, he can look better at the figure of his opponent from his right hand hanging an object, which Chat Noir cannot recognize - _what is that?_ \- reflects.

"Oh, don't worry, your turn, k- kitten, will come later, when you give me your Miraculous!" Princess Solitude reaches out with her right arm, hurling another beam at Chat Noir, who readies himself by swinging the stick in front of him. She takes another leap, landing on top of a lamppost, away from Chat Noir. The girl in gray looks around, recognizing Alya's tawny hair "Ah, look who's there! My _friend_ Alya!" she says, through gritted teeth, "And there is Nino too, two pigeons ..." she raises his arms, taking aim.

* * *

# Anger

"I knew I should have gone home," Nino chides himself, trying not to be dragged to the ground by fleeing passers-by. "Ouch," someone stepped on his foot. Hopping on the other the boy manages to reach a less crowded point and looks around. "Alya must be here somewhere, when there is an Akuma she is there too, ready to get into trouble."

Not seeing her, he turns his back on the river and starts to walk in the opposite direction. He has to get away from where Chat Noir and his opponent are fighting and find a safe place. 

Nino does not have time to take a step when something hits him and makes him fall to the ground, making his glasses fall from his nose, at the same time a purple flash blinds him for an instant. Now he is on the ground, next to a girl about his age, olive, red and curly hair, without glasses he confusedly sees that she has beautiful hazel eyes. Seeing her, Nino swallows hard. He realizes she is on top of him, and rolls next to him, sitting on the pavement, "Sorry but I didn't ... I didn't have time and ... she hit us too. Ah, these are yours," while she picks up Nino's glasses and he does the same with hers, "and these are yours ... er ..." 

"Alya," the redhead introduces herself, turning towards Princess Solitude "but it's not the time for pleasantries, let's run away!" she ends, standing up and offering her hand to Nino to help him, but the boy is already on his feet. He adjusts his cap, grabs Alya by the shoulder and says, "I'm Nino! You're right, let's go!" They start running, quickly reaching the queue of the fleeing group of people.

Princess Solitude laughs, while four other links in the chain disappear "Done! Now at least you won't embarrass me anymore, you nosy girl."

Chat Noir, taking advantage of the moment, rushes along the embankment with the intention of immobilizing her, but before he is within reach, she turns and the hero stops on the spot in a guard position. 

She stares at him for a moment with the empty red eyes of the mask streaked with black tears, "Later! I told you!" she growls, punctuating the words as she moves the chains like two whips between herself and the hero in black, making them rattle.

"First, I have a couple of things to say to that flirt Adrien Agreste!" a gesture of her hand and the cloud on the pastry turns into a gray puff that reaches her, wrapping her and carrying in the direction of Adrien's house.

Hearing his name, Adrien gasps for a moment, a whirlwind of confused thoughts in his head, his cheeks on fire. _What ... did I do?_ "Marinette!" escapes his lips, a cry through clenched teeth. Undecided whether to check how his two friends are, or run in the direction of your own home. "Ladybug, where are you?" he mumbles, choosing to chase Princess Solitude.

Marinette confusedly hears her own voice mention Chat Noir and Adrien, everything is shrouded in a purple mist. She tries to call for help, to move, but she can't do it, it's like a nightmare. She feels a dark terror take hold of her, Papillon's voice in her head "What are you doing? Take the Miraculous from Chat Noir! Don't waste your time." then it goes dark again.

_Is it my fault? Marinette was akumized because of me!_ \- Adrien thinks, jumping between one a roof and the other. _What did she call me? A flirt? Why?! It had to be that prank, at the museum ..._ the blond feels his cheeks getting hot and automatically starts to put his hand behind his neck, but the gesture causes him to lose coordination and ends up landing badly on a terrace, instinctively curls up and tumbles against a concrete vase. "Ouch!" it escapes him, more from surprise than from pain. 

He kneels, panting to catch his breath, hands on his knees and elbows bent "No no! It can't be because of me and Kagami. Besides, she likes Luka!" Feeling the cool air on his cheeks, which he imagines fiery red, Chat Noir stands up. "Calm down, Adrien. Later. You'll think about it later." Looking around he tries to understand on which roof he fell ."Yes but, if so she could also go after Kagami! But where are you, Ladybug?"

The superhero takes the stick from his belt and activates the phone mode, calling the heroine ladybug. No reply. "This... this is the terrace where we made the date and ..." a melancholy smile appears on Chat Noir's face, "No, not now!" he reproaches himself, looking around, "There is the cloud."

Just over three hundred meters separate Chat Noir from Agreste’s manor, so the boy looks for the quickest way to cover himself, when the ringing of a bike in the street attracts his attention. 

Looking in the direction of the sound, Chat Noir recognizes a turquoise hair: a slender boy, tall and slightly older than Adrien's age, in black jeans and a blue jacket, bent over a yellow bicycle, pedaling at a great pace towards the Agreste house. "Speak of the devil ..." the blond comments, looking for the fastest way to get down from there and reach him.

A leap, a blow of the stick on the building opposite and Chat Noir is a few steps behind the cyclist. "Luka!" he calls him, his hands cupped to act as a megaphone. Luka almost loses his balance due to the sudden braking, but turns around: "Eh? Chat Noir?" he replies, eyes wide with surprise.

"Where are you going?" Chat Noir asks him, who in a couple of strides caught up with him, looking him in the eye, "Well I saw on the news that Mari ... and well I thought ...". 

"Mari." notes Adrien, with a strange sense of annoyance for that diminutive, never heard of anyone using it, nickname for Marinette. "Ok, listen, Luka, there's no time to explain, I need your help, that is, no, Marinette needs it and you .." he stops, biting his tongue, then holds out his arm. "I'll give you a lift ", he says, then puts Luka's arm around his shoulders, surrounding him with the other just above his waist. "Hold on tight!" and throws itself back onto the roofs using the stick as a lift.

  
  


The two quickly reach the building in front of Agreste mansion and, crouched behind the chimneys, observe Princess Solitudine, a little less than fifty meters from them. The girl floats, balanced on a miniature storm cloud about ten meters above the ground, above the mansion’s garden.

Chat Noir looks seriously at Luka, "Listen, I need a diversion: go down that ladder and try to talk to her while I go around, okay?" The other nods to the blond, looking at the ladder, "and be careful, she fires some rays that ... erase the memory of the people you love." 

Luka opens his eyes in disbelief, "What?"

Chat Noir nods gravely. "Yup. She has something against Adrien now. Ladybug will arrive soon, I ... meanwhile we try to buy time. Go down and try to distract her, you are ..." he says no more, as he goes towards the edge of the roof, bent down so as not to be seen. "I'll take care of the rest, I'll try .. I'll try not to hurt her, don't worry. And Miraculous Cure can fix everything." After a gesture with two fingers pointing to his forehead, the black-clad hero projects himself diagonally with his baton. He lands on the roof of the building, on the opposite side from Princess Solitude. Another jump and he is above his room, with a position advantage over his opponent. He crouches, flattening himself behind the eaves, waiting to hear Luka's voice.

"Adrieeeeeeeen," cries out Princess Loneliness defiantly, hands on hips "are you hiding somewhere or are you with that grumpy double-agent Kagami?" she continues, swaying on the cloud in front of the huge window of Adrien's empty room, lit by the cold glow of the TV screen. "Or are you with that Italian liar?" she chants, "Or did you run away hiding into Chloé’s hotel? Come ooooon, where are you, I just have to make you forget all the ones you care about and especially THAT grumpy one. And ..." a short sob cuts her off. Taking a breath she shouts, "Where are you, COWARD!" 

Each word was like a slap in the face to Adrien, the weight in his chest growing bigger and bigger as the akuma who was Marinette spoke. "I didn't… I didn't understand…" she mutters to herself.

He begins to feel the salty taste of tears, his eyes burning. That yelled "coward" is the worst blow. Finally, a voice from below interrupts Princess Solitude's monologue and Adrien's troubled thoughts. "Marinette! Stop! Please! It’s Luka!" outside the boundary wall, the boy has slipped within fifteen meters of Princess Solitude and her floating cloud.

"What is it now," she says, looking down in surprise, "L-Luka? W-what are you doing here?" she mumbles and then shouts "Go away! And I'm not Marinette, I'm Princess Solitude!" She clenches her fists, "Stop calling me Marinette!"

"I’m here to help you!" Luka said, raising his turquoise head, "what's happening to you, why are you doing all of this? Mari, you can tell me everything, you know, I ..." pauses to find the right words to say.

"Mari, you can tell me everything," resounds in the mind of Chat Noir, more and more confused. “Am I… jealous?" he shakes his head to clear it - _Hurry up Ladybug, we need you_ \- thinks as he tightens his grip on the baton to gain courage, getting ready to jump

Princess Solitude turns down, seeming to stare at Luka, "So help me find that .... Adrien! He must ... I have to ...." she stops, breathing heavily. Papillon's voice resounds in his head, "Get the Miraculous! Hurry!"

"I’m sorry, Mari, I can't do it, I don't know where he is! Come here, let's talk! What happened?" Luka said, in a calm voice, but too many questions crowded into his mind. - _What did Adrien do to her? Did he trick her? Deluded? No, it must have been a misunderstanding. Or maybe..._ \- 

Marinette's voice, darkened by crying brings him out from his reflections, saying, "I don't want to talk, I don't need to talk. I don't need anyone! Go away! I do- don’t-want you either! " cries Princess Solitude, tearing the pendant from her neck with her right hand and throwing it at Luka's feet, pointing her other hand at him.

"Now!" he said, and with a single movement Chat Noir stands up and, with a powerful thrust of the legs, throws himself forward, over the edge of the roof. He raised the baton above his head, held with both hands like a bokken. Princess Solitude notices the movement, turns in that direction and raises her arms to protect her face, but is out of time: Chat Noir's stick falls on her head, hurling her to the ground in the garden, followed by Chat Noir himself.

"Mari! Chat Noir! Are you all right?" Luka yells from behind the wall that hides the view of the others.

Marinette feels the contact with the grass behind her back but, as before, she can't move. She seems to have fallen with her head turned to one side and as if shrouded in fog she glimpses the figure of Chat Noir, crouched on the ground, next to her. "Chat ... help me." she murmurs, with difficulty.

Chat Noir turns to Princess Solitude, motionless - _oh no_ \- is the only thing Adrien can think, worried. 

The hero bends over the gray-cloaked girl, the blow of the stick has broken the mask, the pieces now on the ground. Next to the pieces of the mask, Adrien recognizes an object: the lucky charm he gave Marinette on her fourteenth birthday, completely gray. 

Chat Noir approaches again to observe the face of the Akumatized girl, kneeled near her: Marinette's closed eyes are swollen, her face wet with tears, a reddish shadow surrounds her eyes and part of her forehead, her hair has become a shapeless gray. She seems to move his lips and murmur something, which the boy can't understand - _thank goodness she’s alive_ \- he thinks - _but where is the Akuma... it wasn't in the mask_ \- 

Suddenly Princess Solitude opens her eyes, making Chat Noir jump back, rolling sideways and leaping to his feet. 

Princess Solitude, already on guard, swings the two chains, "Nice move, cat. Nice move. You made him come here to distract me!" then she realizes she no longer has the mask, her expression frowning, "oh. Bad k-kitten, very bad boy."

"Marinette! Listen to me! I-He ... ehm Adrien didn't do it on purpose,” Chat Noir begins, trying to buy some time to find the akumatized object.

"Do not call me that!" the girl in gray shouts, "I'm not Marinette anymore!" still rotating the two chains.

"Okay," she looked him straight in the eye with an icy gaze.

"if you want to talk .. let's talk!" she growls, throwing a chain towards Chat Noir, who grabs it in his right hand and turns it around his wrist. 

"Er ... Don’t worry Luka, it's okay!" shouts Chat Noir over his shoulder.

Looking at the chain Chat Noir thinks - _one_ \- then looks Princess Solitude in the eyes, saying it slowly "I don't want to hurt you. Please. Let us help you. There is always a solution, you always said that!" he continues, still looking at her.

"Stop it! I don't need you! I don't want anyone!" Princess Solitude throws the other chain, promptly neutralized by Chat Noir who grabs it, clutching it in her hand along with the one he has already. Then he looks at the girl with an oblique smile. "You know, Princess .. the ties are on both sides!" he plants the baton in the other hand on the ground and stretches it, projecting himself out of the garden and dragging Princess Solitude with him, tied by her own chains.


	2. Part 2

# Guilt

Luka gets to his feet, lowering his arms from when he had covered his face: he had bent down when Princess Solitude had thrown something at him and pointed at it. "Maybe I can help Chat Noir with this ..." he mutters, as he picks it up, "But it's ... the pick I gave her .. and it turned gray," he twists it in his fingers, "now what can I do to help Chat Noir? Mari ... and the Akuma speaking, not her. Even if ..." he reflects, observing the two struggling jump the wall of the villa, ready to run where they would get off.

Chat Noir and Princess Solitude descend abruptly on the pavement, balancing with the stick in his free hand. She is struggling to keep her balance, her face in a grimace of anger. Adrien had never seen such an expression on Marinette's face, _Papillon will pay for this too-_ he thought, observing her carefully- _Where is that Akuma? Where?_

"Let me go, cat! I don't have time to play with you!" hisses Princess Solitude, giving him a dirty look and pulling the chains to make him lose his grip, to no avail. "You wanted this. I'll take your miraculous and then I'll do what I have to do." He takes a step forward, putting his foot down for better leverage.

Chat Noir eases the tension of his right arm on the chains a little, pulling the other arm back and placing the cane on his shoulder, ready to deliver the blow. The two are less than three meters from each other. "Just what I wanted to hear, Princess," then he looks at her with a worried expression, "I'm so sorry, Marinette, but I'm afraid I'll have to hurt you a little."

"No! Stop! Chat Noir! Mari!" Luka's voice, who reached them. They both turn just to look at him, while keeping an eye on each other. "There must be a solution. Come on Mari, it's all a misunderstanding, you know .. Adrien isn't ..."

"Shut up!" the cry of Princess Solitude startles the two boys, "Adrien must forget me! And I must forget him!”," she cries again, her face streaked with tears. 

"Don't say that." Luka insists

"Go away! I don’t want to!" with a cry of desperation the girl jerks the chain tied to her right wrist, lowers her hand and throws a violet ray towards Luka: taken aback the boy cannot avoid it, he can only crouch down and raise his arms to protect his face, but getting hit with full force of the blow. 

Even Chat Noir is taken aback, unable to prevent the movement of the girl "No!" she says between her teeth, noticing something in the gray figure: one of the two earrings sparkled for a moment when she fired the beam. Adrien records it mentally, distracted by what Marinette said - _Forget me? Oh, man. So that letter .. But then Luka? That is her ... I ... oh, man -_ he thinks, propping himself up with his feet before giving the chains another yank. Another couple of rings disappear, and immobilizes Princess Solitude. She, as if expecting it, indulges the pull, jumping forward to unbalance the hero in black, "Give me your Miraculous!" she shouts running towards him, her arms outstretched.

Chat Noir quickly calculates the distance between himself and Princess Solitude and, when she is five feet away, he takes a step back, twisting sideways to be harder to hit, then lets go of the pair of chains. The girl in gray, instead of grabbing Chat Noir, bends over, rolls on the pavement, passing by the hero's legs, whipping the air with her chains. Taken aback, Chat Noir feels a chain coiling around his right ankle. One tug, and he finds himself back on the ground. Princess Solitude watches him. Giggling, she retracts the chain with a snap and before Chat Noir can react she's already floating on another minitemporal cloud.

Amazed, Chat Noir remains seated for a moment, trying to guess where she may be headed, gets up and glances at Luka, "Are you okay?" he asks him.

"Yes, yes, I’m alright ... but who was that girl?" a pause. "Oh ..." Luka lowers his eyes. Chat Noir gulps, "It was Marinette under Papillon's control. Thanks for your help, Luka, but you've put yourself in enough danger to help me. Don't worry, I'll save her. Or my name is no longer Chat Noir." He turns away with a determined look, _Ladybug .... What happened to you?_ \- he comments to himself, trying not to think about the lump in his throat and the weight in his chest.

"Wait, Chat Noir, who did you say it was?" Luka asks him.

Chat noir stops for a moment, avoiding the other's gaze, "One who ... who loves you, Luka. Leave it to me now," he replies, then, to himself - _I've caused enough trouble._ \- before setting off in pursuit of the girl in gray, Chat Noir quickly returns to the garden of the Agreste mansion to collect the lucky charm, putting it in a costume pocket. While climbing over the wall for the third time, Chat Noir sees the silhouette of Princess Solitude and the cloud, highlighted by the setting sun, heading back towards the Seine and the Françoise Dupont school, practically returning from where they had arrived a few minutes earlier. "Poor Marinette. It's my fault. I have to hurry. " he says to himself, feeling his eyes burn.

Once again that path between the roofs, so well known, Chat Noir had by now become an expert on the roofs of Paris by running and jumping on them with Ladybug while chasing after all these Akuma. 

But this time it was different, his Lady wasn't there. He had no idea where he was. He had looked for her again with the "telephone" built into his weapon, but nothing, no answer. He had also lost sight of Tikki, who at the beginning of the chase hadn't wanted to explain to him why Ladybug couldn't transform. In Adrien's mind the words of hatred and contempt that akumatized Marinette had addressed to him just before continued to echo and the blond reflected - _It's all my fault. But how could I have been so stupid? But I ... I don't ... Even if Ladybug doesn't want me, I ... I don't even know how I feel, how can I make it clear to Marinette? I absolutely have to dissolve the spell of the Miraculous of the Butterfly. And talk to Marinette. But how? Maybe the Akuma is in the earring, I saw it shine when it hit poor Luka. That too, because of me._

Lost in his reflections, Chat Noir finally arrives in sight of his goal. The hero stops, leaning against a chimney to catch his breath and quickly wipe away a tear. A couple of seconds and he starts running again: he passes the Notre-Dame Cathedral covered by scaffolding and when he is about to cross the Seine with a push of the stick, he once again sees Princess Solitude on her cloud, above the schoolyard that he attends in the role of Adrien. The building is dark and silent in the last light of day, "Who knows why she came here, is she looking for Ladybug?" Chat Noir wonders. The street in front is deserted, illuminated at times by the blue flashing lights of the Police that have isolated the neighborhood.

In the mind of Marinette, more and more terrified in the brief moments in which she emerges from the purple mist, Papillon's voice echoes "What are you doing? Find Ladybug! Bring me the Miraculous!"

"Hey, Princess, what do you say, you come down and we finish this once and for all? Forget Adrien, you have a beautiful cat all to yourself!" Chat Noir provokes her, despite not being in the mood for being nice. The hero arrived in silence and perched on a lamppost on the bank of the Seine, exactly in front of the school. Princess Solitude turns around, furious, "This time you are really bothering me m-kitten, I'll make you stop the urge to joke and then I'll take," "my Miraculous, yes, of course, you already said it before and it went wrong!" keeps teasing Chat Noir, jumping off the lamppost.

The girl in gray leaps from the cloud, a somersault in flight and lands, across the street, in front of Chat Noir, swinging the chains beside and in front of her.

 _Strange_ \- he finds himself thinking - _she looked like Ladybug_ \- then shakes his head and focuses on his opponent, studying her moves. She takes a guard position, always twirling her chains, while Chat Noir thinks about how to distract her, then has an idea: the hero in black dives to the right, passing behind a waste basket, simultaneously throws the stick behind Princess Solitude , bouncing it off the school wall. She sees him and neutralizes the attack, sending him away with a swipe of the chain, looking away for a moment from Chat Noir, who leaps at her with a jump: "You won't fool me!" growls the girl in gray, while snapping the other chain and launching a purple beam at Chat Noir, who does not even try to dodge it. Now too fast and too close, overwhelming Princess Solitude with all his weight, he manages to immobilize her to the ground.

Now the two boys are stalled, Chat Noir keeps Princess Solitude stuck on the ground, who struggles to try to free herself as she tells him furious, "You got hit on purpose! Then there's no one you love!" the girl growls. 

Chat Noir looks at her gravely, while in his mind the images of his father, Marinette, Nino and that of his mother fade. The lump in his throat becomes more and more unbearable, "There was someone. I had to .... Princess. It hurts. " he whispers, his green eyes wet. "Cataclysm!" he whispers, activating the power of his Miraculous.

Princess Solitude opens her blue eyes wide when she sees the black sparks around Chat Noir's hand, who carefully, almost as a caress, brushes her ear with his right hand, touching the earring. Marinette feels a brief twinge of pain in the middle of her forehead, then passes out.

* * *

# Tears

Surrounded by butterflies in his lair, Papillon loses contact with Marinette, but senses that the Akuma has not been captured. "That damned Chat Noir managed to free the Akuma .. but why did Ladybug not intervene?" the man beats the walking stick on the floor, "And if I had ... no, she would have given me the Miraculous right away! Then why didn't she show up?"

Chat Noir sees the earring go dull as a purple butterfly emerges from it, moving away towards the sky, but he doesn't notice. The memories of the people he had felt fading moments before reappear, more vivid than ever. His father, the disappearance of his mother, the meeting with Nino, he who lends the umbrella to Marinette while explaining the misunderstanding of the previous morning. Chat Noir's vision is clouded by tears he can't hold back. 

The body of Princess Solitude is enveloped in a cloud of swirling purple smoke, when it clears Chat Noir is kneeling on the ground, Marinette's torso on his knees, the girl's head resting on his forearm. The other hand gently brushes the disheveled fringe from her face. "Marinette?" whispers the hero in black. Marinette is motionless, arms and legs abandoned, unconscious.

"Oh no. Princess!" continues Chat Noir, shaking his head to wipe his eyes "Wake up. Please," he whispers, stroking her head. "I did this to you .. I hurt so many friends .. It's all my fault! Can you forgive me? Look at me. Please. I didn't want ... I ... I didn't understand." Marinette doesn't seem to hear him, her eyes swollen, her lids closed and red, still motionless.

"Oh, and this? Hmmm it has something ... familiar ... but also new, and it's something so powerful. But it's not like before ... hmmmm" Papillon says to himself, feeling the sense of Adrien's guilt and fear, "Come on, my little Akuma, you're still free!" he orders, spreading his arms and lifting the purple walking stick.

Chat Noir's face is now close to Marinette's, he holds her close, a lump in his throat, his heart beating wildly, as if in a vise grip, "Marinette, wake up, do it for ..." Chat Noir swallows empty, a tear falls down the mask and falls on the girl's face, then another, "Please" he says, his eyes fixed on the still face. "Hmmm" she mumbles, with a grimace and moves a hand.

"Princess. . I ... I ... I lo... " whispers Chat Noir.

Marinette opens her eyes wide and sees two others staring at hers. Greens. Felines. Polished with tears. She feels her face wet, but the tears are not hers.

"Aaaaaah!" she shouts, the frightened girl, props her arms on Chat Noir's chest, pushes him aside and kicks away, losing a shoe, her heart pounding, confused and slightly stunned.

Neither of them notices the Akuma moving away, without a target.

Chat Noir starts, "Marinette! Finally!" he blurts out, and propping himself up on his knees he throws his arms around the girl's neck, holding her in an embrace, the weight on his chest becoming less oppressive. 

He squeezes her, perhaps too much, ignoring her protests. "W-Chat noir! W-W-What the hell were you doing? Let me go, Chat Noir! And d-where are- we?" Marinette says, stiffening. She feels her cheeks turning fiery red. 

Chat Noir lets her go immediately, crouching next to her, ready to defend himself "Sor ... sorry!" he blushes too and puts his hand behind his neck, touching his neck, "ehm ... here ... you were akumized! Ehm ... are you okay?"

Marinette nods, "Ah yes the Akuma ... But I freed the akuma from where it was ... and ..." with the back of his other hand he wipes a tear, hoping she wouldn't notice it. Marinette barely listens to him as she jumps to her feet "Akumized? Me? But ... Where's Ladybug? Did you catch the akuma?" she touches her earlobe, a sigh of relief feeling the earring, "and .. and ... and ... oh," the girl brings her other hand to her mouth, thinking back to the last memories she has of that afternoon. Her room, the desperation, the Akuma.

"I don't know where Ladybug is, but are you sure you're okay?" explains Chat Noir, meanwhile Marinette looks around, then stares at him. "T-T-thanks, Chat Noir! I'm ... yes, I'm fine. Now I have to ..." she takes her eyes off him, putting on the shoe she was wearing that hit the hero in black, "I must go..." A thud on the stairs of the school makes them both turn around.

The two boys widened their eyes, surprised and relieved, "Ladybug?" they almost shout, in chorus, one for happiness, the other for surprise. 

"In flesh and blood. Sorry I'm late. I fixed everything!" the heroine in red makes a curtsy, then looks at Marinette "Are you okay? Kitten ..." Chat Noir can't help but smile, while Marinette tries to catch her breath, incredulous.

"What the hell happened?" Chat Noir stops her, a disconcerted grimace on her face, but a couple of beeps interrupt him: the imprint on the ring starts flashing, he looks at the miraculous, then he looks at Ladybug and Marinette "er. Mylady, you don't know how happy I am to see you, but I'm about to transform again. I'll wait for you in an hour at the Sacrée Coeur Basilica." Chat pauses, then stares into her blue eyes, "We need to talk. See you soon." He moves her green eyes to Marinette "Bye Marinette, and I’m sorry for a while ago, I ... I didn't ... want to scare you." Chat Noir leaves them with a nod and walks away, almost hopping, finally relieved.

"S-Sure .." Marinette manages to say, her eyes wide and wide fixed on Ladybug, who winks at her. "Come on, I'll take you home," Ladybug tells her, offering her his arm and twirling the yo yo, throwing it towards the terrace of the bakery. Marinette puts an arm on Ladybug's shoulders, she surrounds her waist with her, a jump and the two girls arrive on the roof. 

Ladybug, raising her thumbs, signals to the police officers that the situation is under control, then turns and opens the hatch to the room of a petrified Marinette, who allows herself to be accompanied inside. Marinette is still motionless, standing by the bed looking at her in amazement, then out of the corner of her eye she sees Tikki peeking out from behind the dressing table. Kwami nods her head to her. "Now I have to go," Ladybug tells her "Take care and watch out for the akuma! Bye!" She bids Marinette farewell with a nod and before she can say anything, Ladybug is already gone.

Marinette finally gets up, clenches her fists so as not to panic again and says, a little too loudly "Tikki! Later you will explain why," a pause, "Right?" she concludes dryly, snapping a look to Tikki. "Now ... we have to get an Akuma! Tikki! Spots On!"

* * *

# Thank you

Chat Noir walks away from Marinette's parents' bakery and jumps out of the window into Adrien's room just as the transformation ends. Adrien raises his hands in front of him to support an exhausted Plagg who leans on his palms and mumbles, “Camembeeert." The blond, with a sigh of relief at seeing him back to normal, places Plagg on the pillow of the bed, then takes a couple of steps away to open the cabinet where he keeps his Kwami's stinking food supply. With a vaguely disgusted expression Adrien brings a piece of cheese to Plagg, then sits down on the mattress, placing the cheese on the pillow.

"What's going on, Adrien?" Plagg asks him, his mouth full, seeing that his bearer was holding his head in his hands, his forearms propped up on his knees.

"What the hell did I do?" Adrien mumbles "How could I have made her suffer like this?" The boy turns, staring at the kwami, "Plagg, I think Marinette .... well ... here ... well ..." Adrien swallows thickly, "Shehasacrushonme," he says, all in one gulp, cheeks red like a pepper.

Plagg looks at him and flies close to his face "But you haven't .... yuck ..." he says, disgustedly, "kissed that other girl?" he asks, point blank. Adrien turns even more red "eh ... No!" he hesitates, "no, we haven't kissed, I don't ... eh .. But it doesn't matter. Now I know that Marinette .. but I don't know. Because she told Chat Noir…”

"But Chat Noir is you," Plagg points out. Adrien silences him with a gesture and continues, "Okay, she doesn't remember because she was akumatized, the fact is that now," he puts his hand on his chest, "I know. And ... and ... and ... I don't know what to do because .. Ladybug ... I ..." He puts hands to his cheek, the elbow on knees.

Plagg flies in front of his face, "I think you cause too much trouble! Take some camembert and forget about it! And then don't tell me you didn't notice the macaron girl's gaze!" "Her name is Marinette!" Adrien interrupts, nervous, "the fact is that I .. I think I ... well ... She's a friend and I don't ..." he stops and jumps to his feet, "Oh man, Plagg!"

The Kwami looks at him with wide eyes, startled in surprise, "I didn't see the power of Ladybug's Miraculous Cure! Something must have happened to her! Plagg, Claws Out!"

The feeling of transformation into Ladybug was not the usual. Marinette feels like a shiver of cold when she activates it, which has never happened to her before. The girl looks at herself and she seems to see the usual tight-fitting red jumpsuit with black polka dots. She runs her gloved hands over the fabric of the legs, of the body, "what a strange feeling I had, but the costume looks ok," she comments to herself, then winces when she touches the earrings. "Oh no," an exclamation escapes her, feeling that one of them has some kind of crack. She immediately takes the yo yo from her belt and opens it, using it as a mirror: one of the earrings has a small crack, which starts from the center and reaches the edge, slightly luminescent in the low evening light. 

"And now? It all seems normal to me but .. wait," Marinette thinks, closing her eyes and concentrating to perceive any sensation different from the usual. Nothing, the cool breeze on her face, moving her hair, the usual sensation of the Ladybug costume on her skin, no, nothing different.

Ladybug opens her eyes with a sigh of relief, then looks again at the earring with the mirror "hmm it seems that the crack has shrunk .. is that possible?" she thinks, noticing the change in size of the opening. "Calm down, Marinette, you've already screwed up enough today. Calm down," she scolds herself, closing the yo yo and spinning it to throw it on the lamppost facing the terrace. She gives a quick glance to make sure no one has seen her and launches over the railing, landing on the top of the lamp, which sways slightly. 

Marinette mumbles, "And now, we find this Akuma ..." looking around and looking for signs of purple luminescence, but nothing. Ladybug throws the yo yo again and jumps off the lamppost, landing on top of the one a third the length of the bridge over the Seine. The heroine gives another circular look but still no trace of the Akuma, then jumps to the next lamp. "I have to hurry or it will multiply, and then it will be harder" she mutters uneasily, getting out on the sidewalk.

"Let's try ..." she says between his teeth, takes the yo yo and with a jump on the spot throws it in the air saying, "Lucky Charm!" A swirl of pink light and a red object with black polka dots falls into her hand. Ladybug observes the object she is holding curiously, "A snap umbrella? And what am I supposed to do with this?" she blurts out. The polka dot heroine takes a closer look at the umbrella, opens it and the one does not lock but closes in half.

Ladybug turns the umbrella over in her hands, closing it. She looks at it again then looks around again. She reopens the umbrella and looks inside. Then she closes it. 

Suddenly he remembers the first day of school, when Adrien apologizes for the misunderstanding of chewing gum and Chloé. The blond lent her his umbrella and it closed on her head, making them laugh heartily. And then, there was something else. Marinette feels herself blushing when she thinks about how she felt the moment Adrien's hand brushed hers. 

Ladybug understood the meaning of the Lucky Charm - _At school. Of course!_ \- she thinks, walking towards the building.

Chat Noir has almost reached the school, from a roof not far away he sees Ladybug approaching the stairs, holding something .. _I knew it was strange .. but is it an umbrella?_ The hero in black freezes, struck by the memory of when he met Marinette on those stairs, talked to her, lent her an umbrella and they brushed against each other. _Even earlier it came back to me_ \- he thinks, confused, then shakes his head and throws himself, pushing with his stick, onto the roof of the school cafeteria, noting the red silhouette of Ladybug on the roof of the main building.

Ladybug has just stowed her yo yo after jumping onto the roof when she sees the purple glow of the Akuma in the center of the courtyard. She takes the yo yo, touches it in the center making it open, bounces it on the wire a couple of times, then loads the shot and throws it towards the butterfly "Time to de-evilize!" she announces. The magical yoyo imprisons the Akuma and Ladybug retrieves it with a satisfied, "Gotcha!"

"No more evil-doing for you, little Akuma," she says, as she opens it and the butterfly, once again white, flies into the sky, "bye-bye, little butterfly!" she says, watching it disappear.

  
  


Papillon senses the Akuma's purification, "Damn Ladybug! But next time you will be forgotten!" he shouts furiously in the purplish half-light of his lair.

  
  


_Well, and now let's fix things .._ \- Marinette thinks, then throws the umbrella in the air with a cry of, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

Immediately millions of magical ladybugs begin to swirl around the Lucky Charm, to divide and reach all those affected by Princess Solitude, who regain their memories. They also touch the two heroes, completely repairing Ladybug's earring and almost completely erasing the weight that oppressed Adrien since he saw the image of his mother disappear that same afternoon, but something hadn't passed, he was sure of it.

Chat Noir remains out of sight of Ladybug, undecided - I _f I stop her now she has to transform again. And she won't tell me anything. Maybe if I wait she'll explain. She has to. I trust her but .._ -he thinks, with a mixture of relief and concern. From his hiding place, Chat Noir waits for Ladybug to go away, then checks the time on the stick and heads for the meeting place.

Ladybug takes a long time before heading back home, to throw off any onlookers, then sneaks into the trap door of Marinette's room and releases the transformation, resuming Marinette's appearance and checking her earrings in the mirror. Whole. They are whole again.

With a long sigh, she sits down on the loveseat, the cushions still out of place from the afternoon. 

“Tikki, can you explain to me what happened?" She asks the Kwami clutching a pillow in her hands to calm down. She felt tears in the back of her throat again.

"Well, you were been akumized, what do you remember?" Tikki begins to explain.

"Yes, I ... I tried to resist but I'm too tired, Tikki," replies the girl.

"Try to calm down, it's all settled now. You did very good. I called Chat Noir, who saved you alone!" The red Kwami reassures her, flying to caress her cheek. Marinette raises her hand to allow her to rest, "Thanks Tikki, I would be lost without you ... but tell me, what did I do?"

"Well, I don't know exactly, I went to look for Alya to give her the Miraculous of the Fox. She was also very good. I did it to deflect Papillon's suspicions that maybe, not seeing Ladybug, he would suspect you." Tikki explains.

"And ... listen ... " Marinette looks into the Kwami’s dark eyes, "Why was Chat Noir crying? Is that something I did to him from being Akumatized? I ... I ... I only remember some flashes it was ... it was terrible. I couldn't do anything."

Tikki looks at her too, worried, "Don't think about it, it's over. I'm sorry I can't do more but you have to find the strength, Marinette. You are the best Ladybug I've ever had, and I love you, you'll make it, I'm sure."

Marinette wipes a tear with the back of her hand, then sniffles and puts Tikki close to her cheek in a kind of hug, "Thank you Tikki. I love you too. Now eat, I have to explain a few things to Chat Noir. I wish I could thank him for what he did for me but ... how if I’m going to be Ladybug? "

Tikki flutters across the desk, where there is a plate with some cookies, and starts eating one, "hmm ... you could tell him she asked you ... " she chuckles, " Marinette that is! or ... or you could ask him to see you somewhere because you want to thank him. But maybe you better not tell him anything. Marinette thinks out loud, “Hmm maybe saying nothing is best. I could bring him a gift and say she gave it to me ... er .. Marinette, what do you think?"

"Sounds like a good idea," concludes Tikki.

The appointment time has come, and the two heroes find themselves on the edge of a dome of the Sacré-Coeur cathedral.

Chat Noir was already there, he smiles when he sees the heroine in red, but the look is serious. Ladybug is not sure but it seems to her that he has tears in his eyes.

"Hello, Kitten," he begins, trying to smile in turn.

"Hello." he says dryly, "Would you like to explain to me what happened earlier, or do you intend to leave me in the dark even now?"

Ladybug is a bit confused by his strange attitude, "Yes", she says, staring into his green eyes, which seem a little different from usual, "let's sit down, will you?" She invites him to sit next to her, clapping her hand on the stone "It's that ... I was late because ... it's .. it's embarrassing, Chaton .. I'm .. you see.. err..." Ladybug looks at her feet, nervous, "in short, women's things, you understand ..." 

Chat noir blushes under the mask and goes, "ah. Excuse me but I was very worried. I was afraid that something serious had happened to you." He pauses for a long time, then turns to Ladybug, who is not looking at him "but tell me ... why when you accompanied Marinette did you say everything was fine and then afterwards you were at Dupont? I saw you capture the Akuma then. I ... My lady I trust you but .. . but I think you don't trust me." He pauses as Ladybug turns and looks into his eyes, "I can bear if you don't love me. But don't lie to me. Please."

The girl is taken aback and frantically thinks of an answer, worried seeing the worry, almost fear in the eyes of her companion in adventure, "Chat Noir, look at me ... I ... I did it to protect our identities. Since I didn't arrive right away, Papillon might have had some ... suspicions that I ... well that I was Marinette, so first I got her to safety and you ... you were going to transform back, I had to hurry up and .. and .. "

Suddenly, for the second time that day, Ladybug hugs Chat Noir, resting her face on his shoulder, eyes narrow to hold back tears. "I would never lie to you, Chat Noir."

He remains motionless at first, then slowly returns the hug, feeling a little more weight leave his chest.

"Thank you," both say, at the same time, the light of the Moon defining their silhouettes.

**The End.. for now.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is my first fanfiction ever. Ok, to be honest, I tried another one but never published anywhere.
> 
> I hope you liked it, and enjoyed read it as I enjoyed while I write.
> 
> And... stay peachy! :p


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